One thing I notice looking at the data is that the red magnesium-free days seem to dominate the upper ranks towards the end, and blues appear mostly at the bottom, although this is a little hard to see because good days in general start to become sparse towards the end. Now, why would days start to be worse towards the end, and magnesium-dose days in particular? The grim surmise is: an accumulating overdose - no immediate acute effect, but the magnesium builds up, dragging down all days, but especially magnesium-dose days. The generally recognized symptoms of hypermagnesemia don’t include effect on mood or cognition, aside from muscle weakness, confusion, and decreased reflexes…poor appetite that does not improve, but it seems plausible that below medically-recognizable levels of distress like hypermagnesemia might still cause mental changes, and I wouldn’t expect any psychological research to have been done on this topic.

By which I mean that simple potassium is probably the most positively mind altering supplement I’ve ever tried…About 15 minutes after consumption, it manifests as a kind of pressure in the head or temples or eyes, a clearing up of brain fog, increased focus, and the kind of energy that is not jittery but the kind that makes you feel like exercising would be the reasonable and prudent thing to do. I have done no tests, but feel smarter from this in a way that seems much stronger than piracetam or any of the conventional weak nootropics. It is not just me – I have been introducing this around my inner social circle and I’m at 7/10 people felt immediately noticeable effects. The 3 that didn’t notice much were vegetarians and less likely to have been deficient. Now that I’m not deficient, it is of course not noticeable as mind altering, but still serves to be energizing, particularly for sustained mental energy as the night goes on…Potassium chloride initially, but since bought some potassium gluconate pills… research indicates you don’t want to consume large amounts of chloride (just moderate amounts).

These pills don’t work. The reality is that MOST of these products don’t work effectively. Maybe we’re cynical, but if you simply review the published studies on memory pills, you can quickly eliminate many of the products that don’t have “the right stuff.” The active ingredients in brain and memory health pills are expensive and most companies sell a watered down version that is not effective for memory and focus. The more brands we reviewed, the more we realized that many of these marketers are slapping slick labels on low-grade ingredients.
The fact of the matter is, though, that the phrase ‘best brain pill’ doesn’t cover any of the bases you’d want an informative article to cover. The human brain is a large and complex thing, and there are many different kinds of pills, supplements, and medications that you can take to improve or affect different areas and functions. Many more of those pills, supplements and medications you take when it breaks down or glitches, to help control harmful or disorienting symptoms of various mental diseases.
-Caviar contains a unique blend of nutrients that are perfect for the brain, including omega-3 fats (a brain-must), choline (a B vitamin needed to make memories), vitamin B6 and B12 (needed to support the nervous system), minerals like iron and magnesium (needed for healthy blood and tissues) and a good amount of protein combined with potent antioxidants like vitamin A, vitamin C, and selenium. [Because] caviar [can be] expensive, fatty fish would be my recommended alternative, especially Alaskan salmon [and] mackerel, bluefish, sardines [and] anchovies [to get the] omega-3’s your brain needs.
Dr Hart explained how communication between the gut and the brain is controlled via our immune system, our endocrine system (hormones) and our central nervous system, which are all under the influence of the bacteria in our gut. The types and amount of these bacteria, known as our gut microbiome, can be directly impacted by factors such as diet, stress, pollution and medications (2) and the composition of the microbiome is also understood to affect one’s susceptibility to food sensitivities and intolerances (3).
So with these 8 results in hand, what do I think? Roughly, I was right 5 of the days and wrong 3 of them. If not for the sleep effect on #4, which is - in a way - cheating (one hopes to detect modafinil due to good effects), the ratio would be 5:4 which is awfully close to a coin-flip. Indeed, a scoring rule ranks my performance at almost identical to a coin flip: -5.49 vs -5.5420. (The bright side is that I didn’t do worse than a coin flip: I was at least calibrated.)
In my last post, I talked about the idea that there is a resource that is necessary for self-control…I want to talk a little bit about the candidate for this resource, glucose. Could willpower fail because the brain is low on sugar? Let’s look at the numbers. A well-known statistic is that the brain, while only 2% of body weight, consumes 20% of the body’s energy. That sounds like the brain consumes a lot of calories, but if we assume a 2,400 calorie/day diet - only to make the division really easy - that’s 100 calories per hour on average, 20 of which, then, are being used by the brain. Every three minutes, then, the brain - which includes memory systems, the visual system, working memory, then emotion systems, and so on - consumes one (1) calorie. One. Yes, the brain is a greedy organ, but it’s important to keep its greediness in perspective… Suppose, for instance, that a brain in a person exerting their willpower - resisting eating brownies or what have you - used twice as many calories as a person not exerting willpower. That person would need an extra one third of a calorie per minute to make up the difference compared to someone not exerting willpower. Does exerting self control burn more calories?
Dr Hart talked through food intolerance tests that are available through a number of well known companies, including York Test for whom she is Scientific Director. A possible strategy could be to use such testing to identify intolerances, follow an elimination protocol, temporarily removing on foods triggering an IgG response; and then work to improve your gut health to support longer term well-being. Foods that are rich in collagen and its amino acids, like glycine and proline, are great for healing connective tissue, which is what the intestines are made up of. A traditional food, rich in these amino acids, that has made its way into our kitchens again after rediscovering its therapeutic properties is bone broth. Another example of a group of traditional foods that can be used therapeutically in building digestive health, are fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi. These are abundant in probiotics, which are the ‘good’ bacteria our digestive system needs to help keep a good balance and protect the intestinal barrier from pathogens, toxins and parasites. Once these foods have been introduced on an everyday basis along with eating a healthy nutrient-dense diet and the possible use of supplements to help restore balance, you may be able to reintroduce foods that were previously triggering an IgG response carefully, one at a time, whilst monitoring symptoms.
After a month of testing nootropics, I’m not ready to commit to them permanently. They’re simply too untested, and while “move fast and break things” might be a good approach to building software, it’s not what I want for my brain. Still, I think we’ll likely hear more about nootropics, especially as recreational users of more powerful prescription drugs like Adderall and modafinil look for less harsh alternatives. Sometimes, when you’re working, you don’t want to put your brain on jet fuel—a little unleaded gas will do. And for those moments, nootropics could be a fertile testing ground for the intrepid body-hacker.

Supplements, medications, and coffee certainly might play a role in keeping our brains running smoothly at work or when we’re trying to remember where we left our keys. But the long-term effects of basic lifestyle practices can’t be ignored. “For good brain health across the life span, you should keep your brain active,” Sahakian says. “There is good evidence for ‘use it or lose it.’” She suggests brain-training apps to improve memory, as well as physical exercise. “You should ensure you have a healthy diet and not overeat. It is also important to have good-quality sleep. Finally, having a good work-life balance is important for well-being.” Try these 8 ways to get smarter while you sleep.

Omega-3 fatty acids: DHA and EPA – two Cochrane Collaboration reviews on the use of supplemental omega-3 fatty acids for ADHD and learning disorders conclude that there is limited evidence of treatment benefits for either disorder.[42][43] Two other systematic reviews noted no cognition-enhancing effects in the general population or middle-aged and older adults.[44][45]